Keep the rewards of your bounty! To enjoy all those wonderful vegetables you worked so hard for all summer, preserving food is the next stage of that whole cycle of vegetable gardening. Some methods save money and others save time, but all give good results for most vegetables. Your family is saving money you might have spent at the gocery store, and you will eat beautiful, healthful food all year long.
There are 3 methods of preserving food at home - canning, freezing and drying. Each has it's associated pros and cons. For example, freezing is quick and easy, but it costs money to run the freezer all year. Canning costs less but requires some hot work. Drying is also inexpensive but very time consuming and not every food is suitable for it. You will have to decide which major factor - money, time, and taste - influences the best method you choose. Sometimes it seems just easier to go buy it from the store, but the sacrifice is all the additives and preservatives that you may consume, and the extra cost including gas!
Frozen food tastes closest to fresh. Canning is better for foods that you would normally used cooked, like stewed tomatoes or soups. Dried foods take up far less space to store but taste quite different than fresh. Good cooks use a combination of these methods to accomodate their needs for a variety of foods with the best flavour.
Here's a comparative chart of estimated costs to Can, Freeze or Dry, based on 560lbs of produce or 280 1-litre jars. You will have to adjust the cost of the equipment for more or less food. Every pound of produce grown is about the same weight when frozen. For canning, each lb fills a 1/2 litre jar and 2 pounds fill a 1-litre jar.
Canning
Jars approx $10.00 per dozen, life expectancy 20 years calculates to $12.00/year
New lids each year, breakage replacement, estimated at $8.00/year
Total $20.00 per year.
Pressure Canners range from about $70.00 to 130.00. Using an average of $100.00, amortized over 20 years estimated life of equipment, calculates to $5.00/year.
Water bath canner range from about $25.00 to $35.00. Using an average of $30, amortized over 20 years estimated life of equipment, calculates to 1.50/year.
Electricity for processing approx 7 cents per kW.h
Each 21-23 litre size canner holds 20 1/2 litres, or 7 to 8 1-litre jars requiring 40 loads.
Pressure canning processing time 20 mins each load which calculates to .03 per load
Water Bath canning processing time 35-45 mins each load which calculates to about .05 per load.
Cost Summary
| Item | Pressure Canner cost | Water Bath Canner Cost |
| equipment | $25.00/year | $21.50/year |
| electricity | .65 | 1.30 |
| Total cost | 25.65 | 22.800 |
| Cost per jar | 9 cents | 8 cents |
| approx time | 3.2 hrs per load | 3 1/2 hrs per load |
Freezing
15 cubic foot Freezers will hold up to 500 lbs of food and range from about $350 to $650. Using an average of $475.00,amortized over 20 years estimated life of equipment, calculates to $23.75/year or 4 cents per pound.
Packaging material include baggies & labels etc at about 5 cents per lb.
Electricity for blanch processing approx 7 cents per kW.h
Each blanching load requires 10 mins which costs about 1 1/2 cents per pound
Freezer storage costs about $60.00/year to run or about 10 cents per lb.
Cost Summary
| Item | cost |
| equipment | 4 cents/lb |
| packaging | 5 cents/lb |
| electricity | 1.5 cents/lb |
| Total cost | 10.5 cents/lb |
| approx time | 2 hrs (16 lbs) |
Drying
Good quality dehydrators range from about $130 to $180. Using an average of $150.00, amortized over 10 years estimated life of equipment, calculates to $15.00/year or 3 cent per pound.
Packaging materials include storage containers or baggies at about 5 cents per lb.
Electricity for drying processing approx 7 cents per kW.h
Each load requires 9 hours which costs about 1 1/2 cents per pound
Cost Summary
| Item | cost |
| equipment | 3 cents/lb |
| packaging | 5 cents/lb |
| electricity | 1.5 cents/lb |
| Total cost | 9.5 cents per lb |
| approx time | 11 hrs per load (16 lbs) |
When comparing the cost of home canning to the cost of buying food at the grocery store, any of these methods offer significant savings over the long run. For example, a package of 4 1/2 lbs (2 kg) of frozen peas at the supermarket costs 2.15, but the same amount grown and frozen at home costs about 50 cents, a savings of $1.65!
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